


Better Than Homework

by boyslushie



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crushes, Fluff, High School AU, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Slow Burn, Trans Agent Carolina, Trans Agent Washington, Trans Dick Simmons, Trans Donut, Trans Kaikaina Grif, Trans Tucker, canon typical cursing, high school seniors, slight angst, slight injury, you can tear my trans headcanons from my cold dead hands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 05:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12005688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boyslushie/pseuds/boyslushie
Summary: Grif has a crush on a freckly nerd in his senior class, and Simmons has feelings for the coolest kid in school.





	1. Head over Concrete

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so @washingtonsthrussy on tumblr brought up an Grimmons High School AU that I could not resist, so I'm starting this!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grif and Simmons fall for each other. Er, on each other.

Richard bounced his leg as he waited for the bell to ring, he usually loved algebra class, but he had completely forgotten to eat breakfast that morning, and lunch was next period. His stomach growled loudly in the quiet classroom, and he grimaced, hoping no one else had noticed the unfortunate sound. Next thing he knew, the annoying dull ring came through the intercom, and all of the students were packing up and shuffling out of the door in a mass. He sighed in relief as he made it outside into the cool air, separating himself from the crowd of teenagers.

He walked over to his locker, pulling out his bagged lunch and his book, shoving his textbooks into the cubby and making sure everything he needed for next period was in his backpack. When he felt satisfied, he slung the maroon bag over his shoulder and shut the metal door, sliding the lock back into place. He started to walk away, hearing loud laughter coming down the hallway. He didn’t bother to look behind him.

\-----------------

Dexter, or preferably, Grif, as he liked the sound of his last name much better than his first, walked down the hallway, flanked by Tucker and Caboose. They were laughing, talking about Tucker’s escapades in trying to seduce yet another one of the young substitutes that had landed him in detention. 

“You’re gonna get your ass suspended if you keep this shit up.” Grif snorted. He gently pushed Tucker’s arm with the flat of his palm. 

“Awh dude, but what about the new guy in biology. I hear he’s taking over for Mr. Flowers, some weird illness or whatever that’s costing him his job.” Tucker pretended to sulk. Grif rolled his eyes, knowing that Tucker was going to hit on Mr. Washington anyways. It was creepy as fuck, sure, but he couldn't blame him for finding him attractive, the guy wasn’t exactly old. He wasn’t exactly horrible to look at, either, he admitted to himself. Grif may not be one for blondes, but he could admire freckles any day of the week. Though, personality was a much higher value than appearance. 

“Oooh, is that him? That dude you’ve got a crush on?” Caboose tried to whisper as he pointed to Richard Simmons, Grif's main interest in any class they shared. His tone wasn’t very quiet though, and the question turned a few heads of passing students around them. Grif anxiously tugged down on the ends of his leather jacket, pins jiggling satisfyingly as he glared at Caboose out of the sides of his eyes.

“Caboose! Shut up!” Grif whispered angrily. Cabooses eyes widened for a moment, before he made a zipping motion across his mouth. Grif sighed and gave him a small smile. Tucker, on the other hand, was giggling and doing a god awful job at hiding it.

“Dude, don’t start this again.” Grif pleaded warily. Tucker only grinned.

“But it’s so cute! You like him.” Tucker cooed, clapping his hands. If Tucker kept this up, Grif was entirely prepared to grab one of his blue-tipped dreads and tug it. Hard. Tucker seemed to notice the dark intentions in Grif’s warning glare, so he shut up. But the second Grif turned back around to continue walking forwards, two things happened. He noticed that Richard was _right_ in front of them, dangerously close considering his company. Second, that Tucker had started laughing again. Grif half turned to get mad at him again, not wanting a scene in front of “Tall, Ginger, and Nerdy” as Tucker had so eloquently put it, when he felt a hand connect roughly into his shoulder, sending him flying backwards, directly into Richard’s back. Oh fuck. 

They both landed with a loud thud and a small crack against the concrete, Grif’s eyes widened in shock, and he quickly rolled off of his accidental victim. apologies flooded from his mouth as he started gathering the things that had flown out of Richard’s hands, offering his free hand to the disoriented redhead.

“Shit, I’m so sorry, that was completely my fault. My friends were just messing around and- and- fuck.” Grif apologized. Richard sat up groggily, rubbing at his elbow which had landed at an odd angle in the fall. 

“Huh, wait y-you’re…” Simmons started, blush flooding his cheeks. Everything was kind of fuzzy.

“Oh, wait, where are my glasses?” Simmons asked, feeling around on the ground in front of him. Grif spotted them by the locker, handing Simmons his book and lunch to go pick them up.

“Found em, he- oh… oh no.” Grif started, looking down at the frames in his hand. One lense was cracked in a horrible web, and the temple on the same side was bent at the hinge. He handed them back to Simmons with a shaky hand.

“I- I’ll pay for new ones. Holy shit, I’m so sorry, seriously I can get you a new pair just l-” Richard got up, shoving past him hurriedly and disappearing down a path connected to the main hallway. Grif frowned and sighed dejectedly, before turning around to face Tucker. 

“Lavernius.” Grif growled, digging his heels into the concrete. Tuckers eyes were wide in panic.

“You have five seconds before I come after you and beat your ass until you can’t sit straight for a week.” Grif threatened, Tucker could hardly help the smile the spread across his lips at the comment.

“Bow chicka bow wow.” He smirked.

“Four. Three.”

“Oh fuck.” Tucker responded, turning on his heel and booking it down the hall.

“Two. One. GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE, BITCH!” Grif yelled after him, feet hitting the pavement as he ran after him, followed by the sounds of teachers half heartedly telling them not to run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HHHHHH,,, i know i need to work on Stop and Stare, i'm sorry guys the premise for this is just too good though. I'll try to keep regular updates on both though, i swear. someone needs to hold me to my word.


	2. Confiding and Confidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simmons explains the situation and Donut knows everyone apparently.

Richard ran all the way to the lunch table he sat at every day, in an excluded corner of the eating area, across from Franklin. Franklin was an… odd kid. For starters, the guy’s last name was Donut, which was kinda cool. He also spoke mostly in innuendos. Nobody could ever tell if he was doing it on purpose, but he was so quick to come up with them, and used them so consistently, everyone was just convinced he didn’t realize what he was saying. Every year though, without fail, he’d get detentions and warning slips in each of his classes for the first week of every school year, until the teachers gave up, realizing that he was an unstoppable force.

“Hey Franklin! Where’s Doc?” Richard greeted, sitting himself on the uncomfortable bench. “Doc”, otherwise known as Frank DuFresne was Franklin’s boyfriend of two years. They coined the nickname off of his backhanded medical knowledge and interest in becoming a medic himself some day, though he often complained that “doctor” and “medic” aren’t the same thing, they needed a nickname that stuck, to differentiate between the two Franks. 

“He’s on his way back with his lunch, his class let out a little late, he told me the boys were getting a little too rowdy, and the teacher had to give ‘em the what for.” Richard cocked his eyebrow at his wording, and focused on pulling out his sandwich.

“So why don't you unload your thoughts all over me, you seem to have a lot on your mind. And where are your glasses?” Franklin questioned. Richard sighed, blush visible on his cheeks as he thought about the incident in the hallway that had happened minutes before.

“Okay, okay. So I was just minding my own business, walking down the hall with my lunch and my book, when suddenly that Tucker guy pushes _Grif_ of all people right into my back!” Richard explains, making large gestures with his hands. Franklin’s face practically lights up when he tells him he came into physical contact with Grif. Richard notices and shrinks back sheepishly.

“Richard! Oh my god! You’ve been crushing on this guy since Sophomore year! This is big news!” Franklin was practically vibrating in his seat.

“He was… nice. He apologized a lot, I was too out of it to say anything coherent other than ‘Where’s my glasses?’ like a fucking idiot.” Richard dropped his head down on the table and sighed.

“I was a little overwhelmed. Anyways, he was helpful, but when he found my glasses… well…” He pulled the shattered glasses out of the side pocket of his bag.

“Oh… Richard.” Franklin took the glasses careful to inspect them. His mouth twisted with dissatisfaction. 

“Well the most important thing is that you’re not hurt.” Doc stated gently, walking up behind him and sitting down next to Franklin. Franklin grinned and gave him a small peck on the cheek. Richard couldn’t help but smile at their affection. 

“Hey, Doc.” Richard greeted. Doc gave him a big smile. 

“So, what are you gonna do about the glasses? You won’t be able to get much of anything done without them.” Franklin noted. Richard sighed and dropped the glasses back on the table.

“Grif offered to pay for a new pair, but I could never ask that of him.” Richard responded, shaking his head. He was about to explain that he was just going to tell his mom and hopefully have new ones within the next few days, when suddenly a familiar student ran up and dove under their table with a loud “SHHHH.”

“Tucker? What are you doing under all of us?” Franklin asked obliviously.

“Donut, shut it, or he’ll find me!” Tucker whispered harshly.

“Who, exactly?” Doc asked. Tucker didn’t respond as the sound of sneakers slapping the pavement came up behind them, and the sound of heavy breathing.

“TUCKER, I SWEAR TO GOD. YOU CAN’T… Just… Oh.” Grif suddenly calmed down, noticing who was in front of him. He could recognize that fiery red hair anywhere. Richard tensed up suddenly, he couldn’t look behind him. He’s cheeks flushed and Franklin looked like he was going to burst.

“D-Donut. You never told me- ahem- that you two we’re friends.” Grif stated, heart beating fast. Richard gulped as he felt a hand lightly on his shoulder. He turned to look at Grif, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. Oh holy shit, Grif was done for.

“I, uh look. I’m really sorry, again. I totally get it if you're pissed at me, but I really can pay for them! I work extra hours this week anyways. Just tell me how much you need.” Grif offered. Richard shook his head, mouth dry. Words finally found him as he took a deep breath.

“No, no that’s ok it was just an accident. My mom can get me new ones. Uh, thank you for helping me in the hallway though.” Richard gulped. He sounded too formal. Grif probably thought he was a fucking nerd. Not that he wasn’t, but he wanted to seem _cool_. He scooted over and patted the seat next to him, heart racing. Tucker snuck out from under the table, hiding defensively behind Franklin and Doc with a big smile on his face. Grif shot him an intimidating glare. Grif took a snack cake out of his pocket and promptly made himself at home at their table. Richard couldn’t believe this was actually happening. 

“So you… know Franklin?” Richard asked, trying to start up some form of conversation.

“You mean Donut? Yeah I know him. We met a few weeks ago at Tucker and Caboose’s band practice. Er, I guess Church too, huh?” Grif replied, crumbs cascading down his face as he finished off the dessert.

“Why do you call everyone by their last names?” Richard asked. Grif blinked, usually nobody really asked about that.

“Well, uh, I mean it just sounds cool. Something most people don’t do, so when we started doing it, it stood out.” Grif fumbled to make up an excuse. In reality, he just hated the name “Dexter”, reminded him too much of his shitty mother who had ditched him and his sister, Kaikaina, for the “circus”. Lord knows that was a lie, she was just sick of her children. When Kai came out as trans, that had apparently been their mom’s last straw, so she left them in their old, run down house, and ran away to start a new life. His friends didn’t want to make him feel like the odd one out for using his last name, so they decided to make it “the cool new trend”, and it stuck, so they all just go by their last names. It makes for a pretty interesting crowd.

Richard seemed to buy it for now though, or maybe he just didn’t want to pry. Grif suddenly had an idea. A pretty fucking suave idea.

“Speaking of which, why don’t you tell me _your_ last name?” He grinned. Richard blushed. Was he… trying to be friends? With him?!

“I- uh. Simmons.” Richard told him. Grif smiled.

“Simmons. Has a nice ring to it. Hope you don’t mind me calling you that.” He beamed. He saw Tucker and… Donut, high five out of the corner of his eye. Today was just too much.


End file.
